The Kapalua Plantation Course faces fierce criticism after what’s happened in the first three days of The Sentry tournament

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It seems fair to suggest that The Sentry provides something of a gentle start to the new season for the large majority of the PGA Tour players who tee it up at Kapalua each year.

The Sentry was the tournament which provided the lowest 72 hole score in PGA Tour history in 2022, as Cameron Smith got to 34 under par. The Australian beat Jon Rahm by just one shot.

And it appears that there is a good chance that that record could be broken again this week. Hideki Matsuyama is at 27 under par with one round to play, while Collin Morikawa is just one shot back of the Japanese in Maui.

Matsuyama will finish at 38 under par if he matches his 62 from the third round. Meanwhile, just two players in the entire field do not find themselves under par, with Jake Knapp and Rafael Campos tied for 56th on four under par.

Fans criticise The Sentry as Hideki Matsuyama and Collin Morikawa chase PGA Tour history

And that has led to some criticism of the tournament itself. Obviously, The Sentry has not been helped by the lack of wind, but clearly, plenty of fans do not want to watch such a birdie-fest.

One viewer wrote: ‘The Sentry tourney is no fun to watch, yes the scenery is amazing, but it’s a resort course, that gets completely overrun by pros.’ Meanwhile, another also insisted that they were struggling to stay engaged, posting: ‘It is pretty much unwatchable on TV. They don’t even miss greens because they always have wedge in their hand. It’s like pitch and putt. Not fun. They need to do something to make it more difficult instead of easier for these guys.‘

There was further criticism of the course layout, with one fan writing: ‘Course plays about 7200 yards and the fairways and greens are the size of some countries in Europe. Should not be a PGA tour course‘.

And another suggested it was amongst the worst tracks on the schedule.

Elsewhere, a viewer downplayed the significance of the scoring, claiming: ‘Looks like a terrible goat track. Just smash driver as far as possible and wedge it in, literally no thought required.‘

Another suggested: ‘Regardless of the ratings, Without the wind, it’s one of the easiest courses on Tour‘.

The lowest winning scores at The Sentry

It is clear to see just how important the wind is in determining how challenging the week is for these players. There is a 26-shot difference between the best and worst winning scores at the event since the tournament moved to Kapalua in 1999.

And that gap is 20 shots since 2018, with Justin Thomas winning the 2020 event on 14 under par. The next highest score in that time is 23 under par.

The players at the top of the leaderboard this week will argue that they still had to make the most of the more favourable conditions. But it definitely does appear that plenty of fans will not be talking about this event as one of the all-time greats if Matsuyama or Morikawa do make history in Hawaii.